Mending
by mutantpenguins
Summary: Roxas broke Sora's heart when Axel died. Now it's time for them both to begin mending. Axel/Roxas and Sora/Riku, sequel to "Broken", rated K plus for mentions of death and a single kiss.


So, because Ember's incapable of leaving perfectly good angst alone, this is a happier followup to "Broken." If you haven't read that or you don't remember what happened in it, please go back and read that first because this may or may not make sense without that background knowledge.

This one's for Ember's favorite little reviewer. You know who you are, love. Not that every reviewer isn't her favorite. This particular reviewer just so happens to be a close friend of Ember's in real life too. So here's that happier ending she was sure you would want, dearie.

To a very slightly lesser extent, this is also for everyone who reads Ember's KH stuff. You all influenced the decision to write this, too. Ember loves you all. *giant group hug*

And now...

* * *

_Mending_

When Roxas became aware of his surroundings he was on a beach darkened by twilight. Hopeful that his return to awareness meant that he would see Axel again, he eagerly looked around him, only to be disappointed by the lack of nearby green-eyed redheads. Roxas sighed, sitting on the sand and resting his head on his knees. When he had let go of existence he had been hoping for one of two things: reunion with Axel or oblivion. Of course the worlds would deny a Nobody like him both options.

Immediately Roxas snapped out of it. Things with Axel involved had never been easy; why should finding him in this next existence be any different? Standing up and brushing the sand off of his black cloak, Roxas began to walk along the beach, always searching for footprints or a shock of red hair.

Not once did he stop or slow down. The hope that Axel was somehow here was the only thing keeping him grounded. He had experienced insanity before, and he had no desire to repeat that time in his former existence. So on he walked, ever searching.

He was sure he had been walking for at least an hour, yet the sky never grew any darker or lighter. It was funny, the way things worked. Having faded into nothingness, he was trapped in eternal twilight, both in his current existence and in his surroundings.

Roxas finally paused when he arrived at a part of the beach where he could see a heart-shaped moon hanging in the sky over a cliff. Kingdom Hearts. Organization XIII had sought it, only to be denied. Was it to be the same in this existence, or was embracing the nothingness they were the key to a Nobody reaching Kingdom Hearts?

Roxas began to walk faster. He was certain that if Axel was here he would be near or within the heart of all worlds. And so he hurried on, scaling the cliff with minimal difficulty. All that time spent getting to the top of Twilight Town's clock tower with Axel had paid off; Roxas was an adept climber.

Reaching the top of the cliff, Roxas sat with his feet dangling off the edge, smiling softly as he remembered days with sea-salt ice cream and beautiful sunsets and completed missions and happiness and… Axel.

Roxas remembered meeting Axel on that very first day, when he had received his new name. He remembered scaling that clock tower for the first time, wondering what in the world Axel had wanted to show him until he looked at the horizon and saw a beautiful sunset. He remembered Axel smiling as they watched sunset after perfect sunset together sitting on that tower. He remembered a taste that was salty but sweet and completely unlike anything else in any world, and he remembered that he was the one Axel had chosen to share it with.

He remembered the best parts of his prior existence, and he remembered they all revolved around Axel.

As he sat there a voice suddenly interrupted the deluge of memories. "Lovely eulogy, Roxas. Simply lovely. A little philosophical for my taste, but you even found a heart to put in it. Couldn't have done better myself, especially since I was dead and all."

Roxas' head jerked up at the familiar voice. There stood a shimmering figure with green eyes and long red hair. Confused by the shimmering, he looked down at his own hands, only to find that he too was shimmering and translucent. "Why…?" he wondered aloud, looking back up at Axel with his confusion evident in his expression.

Axel smiled that beautiful smile he had only ever seemed to direct at Roxas. "We don't really exist anymore, not here. I keep feeling drawn to Kingdom Hearts, though. Maybe we can really exist again there, but I didn't bother going in to find out. I had to find you first."

They weren't there, but Roxas heard the unspoken words: _I couldn't risk losing you again._ He smiled in return, stood, and reached out to his love, but his hands simply passed through Axel's translucent figure. Smile vanishing, he said bitterly, "This is a part of that whole not really existing thing, isn't it?"

Axel nodded. "I think the only reason you can see me at all is that we're in the same state of limbo now. You couldn't see me earlier, after I died but before you did, even though I was there all along. I figure things will be different in Kingdom Hearts."

Roxas began walking with Axel toward the heart-shaped moon, and a glowing door appeared. He hesitated, though, when he saw two familiar figures on the beach below. "Hang on. There's something I've got to do first."

Axel's gaze followed his. "Sora?"

"Yeah. I took over his heart and then shattered it. I figure the least I can do is set it to begin the mending process." And Roxas ran across the plateau he was standing on, down the cliff, and onto the beach where Sora and Riku sat awkwardly.

If there was one thing Roxas knew from his time as a part of Sora, it was Sora's heart. Roxas knew that Sora had once loved the silver-haired teenager sitting beside him. He also knew that the events in his last moments of existence had shattered that enormous heart almost beyond repair. Only Riku could mend it, and Sora was in no shape to turn to the older teen. He just needed a bit of a push, Roxas figured.

And so, with a wicked smile on his face, Roxas crouched down so his face was beside Sora's ear. It was time to play the part of Sora's subconscious mind.

Axel figured out his plan. "Are you sure this is going to work?" he asked.

Straightening so Sora couldn't hear him, Roxas nodded. "Yeah, Sora's pretty impressionable. You learn these things when you're trapped within someone's heart."

Axel shrugged, and Roxas returned to his former crouched position. "Riku looks really gorgeous, what with the way the moonlight's falling across his face, doesn't her? And it makes his hair even more silver and his skin even paler…"

As Roxas had predicted, Sora shivered and the first hints of a blush colored his cheeks briefly. He seemed to snap out of it quickly, though, and that was the opposite of what Roxas was aiming for, so he pressed on. "He looks hot in the moonlight and you know it. Ooh, I bet he look even better without his shirt…"

At that a full-out blush slammed into Sora's face. Roxas smirked, debating whether or not he could have roasted marshmallows using the heat radiating from Sora's reddened cheeks. Still, he continued. "And here you are, doing nothing about it. It couldn't hurt to just sit a little closer, could it?"

Sora looked over at Riku guiltily before attempting to move closer inconspicuously. Riku smiled, almost relieved, before wrapping an arm around Sora's shoulders and pulling the younger teen to his side as Sora reddened further.

Roxas cackled wickedly. "But that's not enough, is it? You want more, so much more and you can hardly stand being this close to him without it, can you?"

Sora's eyes widened and his breathing became a series of ragged gasps. He turned to face Riku, one hand clutching at the older teen's shirt. Riku's hand lifted to gently place itself against one of Sora's burning cheeks.

Roxas grinned, and his tone shifted from suggestive to amused. "See? He wants this too. How bad could it possibly be to just reach up and—"

Clearly Sora didn't need Roxas' advice anymore, not if the way his mouth was fused with Riku's was any indication. Roxas smiled. Everything wasn't better yet; that was impossible. But someday the process of mending Sora's heart would be completed. His mission to serve as a catalyst to the beginning of the process already was complete.

He looked up, away from where Sora and Riku were otherwise occupied, and noticed that Axel was smiling at him and mouthing the words, "Nicely done, love." The gesture made him smile in return as he stood and walked to the older… what were they now? Ghosts? Shades? Released souls? Roxas wasn't sure, but he wasn't going to waste time working it out. It was more important that he and Axel make their way to Kingdom Hearts. Now that his mission was a success, he felt an inexorable pull toward that heart-shaped moon, and it grew ever stronger as he drew nearer.

Looking over at Axel, his eyes met the older being's as they walked through that shimmering door and entered Kingdom Hearts.

The first thing Roxas noticed after the sound of the door shutting was that Axel was no longer shimmering and he appeared to be real once more. Tentatively, Roxas raised a trembling opaque hand and placed it on Axel's shoulder, delighted when it felt warm and solid beneath his palm.

Before he could blink he had been pulled into an embrace. Leaning into Axel's arms, Roxas sighed happily. He was where he belonged, and now he could begin his own mending process.


End file.
